Chapter 54: 53 Aihara Ryū

“Indeed, that shark monster has begun attacking Ultraman!”

Yamana, watching the battlefield through binoculars on the ground, said this without surprise.

To them, when Ultraman and a monster clashed, it was as inevitable as “a man dies when killed.”

But Qi Ming knew this attack was orchestrated by a human with ill intent.

In the original Ultraman Tiga series, Masaki Seiwa made Chigira severely injure Tiga because he had already confirmed Daigo’s identity—he planned to drain Daigo’s stamina before seizing his Sparklence.

In this world, Masaki Seiwa likely only knew that “Ultraman is formed from a human.”

So he intended to use Chigira to forcibly revert the current Ultraman back into a human, then use surveillance cameras to identify that person and steal his transformation device for his own use.

Not only Qi Ming, but Masaki Seiwa also wanted to be the “fishing man,” believing the giant, worn down by Golza and Melba, could be easily defeated by Chigira.

“I don’t have time to waste on your toy—I’ll take you out for real later.” Qi Ming prepared to retreat.

Only 30% of Tiga’s transformation could last one and a half minutes, and he couldn’t yet change forms.

His martial arts techniques also struggled to adapt against Chigira’s non-humanoid form.

Besides, even if he killed Chigira, it wouldn’t matter—it was a man-made machine; its death wouldn’t yield any life energy to convert into Star Ci points.

“Crash!” Chigira launched a fierce assault on Tiga, leaping into the air and charging with its drill-like snout.

Tiga leapt straight upward, flying toward the horizon.

Foolish, I can fly.

“Crash!” Chigira missed its target again.

The massive kinetic energy made it impossible to stop; inertia carried it forward, smashing a building behind Tiga.

“Ultraman actually fled!” Yamana and Kishida were stunned; Nami Nishijo and Megumi were equally shocked.

On the rooftop, Aihara Ryū froze for a moment, then let out a deafening roar toward Tiga’s retreating figure:

“Damn it! What third-rate fighting skills are these! You actually ran away!”

“Look at what you’ve protected! Are you even an Ultraman warrior?!”

As he spoke, he collapsed to his knees and began sobbing uncontrollably.

Recently, during the battle against Dinorulu, his team suffered an unprecedented defeat.

Their beloved commander, Serizawa, had died—only he survived, and only when Ultraman Seven appeared did they finally defeat the monster.

And today, the same outcome again.

Why is this happening? Must humanity rely on Ultraman’s power to protect Earth?

With so much pent-up pressure, and now witnessing humanity’s guardian Ultraman flee after leaving chaos behind, Aihara Ryū could no longer bear it—he unleashed his anguish in full.

Masaki Seiwa, secretly controlling Chigira, also froze for a moment, then sneered:

“He fled mid-battle—what a useless coward.”

“I can’t understand why such a timid creature inherited the light. How could such a performance ever deserve humanity’s praise for a savior?”

“Clearly, only I can become the one and only god, guiding humanity’s path forward.”

At this moment, he was lost in self-delusion, completely unaware of what awaited him next.

Following Masaki Seiwa’s command, Chigira returned underground, and the incident temporarily ended.

But rumors—“Chigira Battles Two Monsters,” “Ultraman Defeated and Fled,” “Defense Officer Rages at Ultraman”—spread rapidly.

…………………………

Moroboshi Dan’s face was grim; he drove the Feiyan No.1 in silence, delivering Qi Ming back to the offshore base, after which Qi Ming immediately began studying the new functions of the Ultraman Arbitrary Key.

After storing the DNA of Golza and Melba, increasing the collected types from four to six, the first function—[Sight Through]—had been unlocked.

“This… X-ray vision?”

After activating this function, Qi Ming found he could see through the trunk of the Draym car directly to the sniper rifle inside.

“If I used this to ‘gamble on raw stones,’ I could instantly see if jade was inside—guaranteed profit.”

But Qi Ming wasn’t short on money, nor was he particularly interested in jade.

For him, the greatest use of this function was revealing essence—letting him see through the true forms of aliens disguised as humans.

The [Amplify] function, unlocked only after collecting ten transformation types, must be even more powerful.

After studying [Sight Through], Qi Ming fiddled with the Arbitrary Key again, hoping Golza and Melba would give him more “surprises.”

Previously, Qi Ming would never have stored Golza and Melba’s DNA.

After all, these two monsters had weak combat power and no special traits or growth potential.

But after discovering that the Arbitrary Key could store only ten Star Ci points at once, he had new ideas.

This suggested the Arbitrary Key had some “hidden settings”—did those settings include fusion?

If you can store DNA, shouldn’t fusing them be possible too?

Maybe Golza and Melba could fuse directly into Golba; add Super Gobu later and you get the [Three Emperors]; add Eye Q and Lei Qiu and you get the [Five Emperors].

The [Five Emperors] should at least reach Class A.

But after studying for a long while, he gained nothing.

Qi Ming shifted his approach: collecting five types unlocked [Sight Through], ten types unlocked [Amplify]—perhaps collecting fifteen types would unlock [Fusion].

“I wonder if I’ll even live long enough to reach that point.”

The situation was growing more complex; Chigira’s attack on him signaled that Masaki Seiwa harbored the same ambition as in the original series.

How should he respond?

Qi Ming knew this man wasn’t a simple villain; in the original series, though arrogant and convinced he should become “humanity’s guiding savior,”

he lost control of his power after transforming into a giant.

But this was because he carried ancient genetic factors—he sought to prevent the “apocalyptic future” he kept dreaming of.

In the final episode, when facing Gattanjeru, Masaki Seiwa risked everything to revive Tiga from his stone statue.

For Qi Ming, this was a double-edged sword—an extremely unstable variable.

This world was far more complex and dangerous than the original Ultraman Tiga universe; no one knew whether, under the influence of multiple factors, allowing Masaki Seiwa to develop freely would let him still follow the original “path.”

Besides, if he told Masaki Seiwa, “You’re doing it wrong—transforming with a corrupted heart will cause loss of control,” the stubborn man would never listen.

Should he give him a chance—or simply…

Thinking of this, Qi Ming unconsciously opened the trunk and grabbed the sniper rifle.

At that moment, Megumi’s voice came from behind him: “Team Leader Qi Ming, Counselor Kento is in the command room—he’s called an emergency meeting.”

“Emergency meeting?” Qi Ming instinctively turned around.

(End of Chapter)